MIT Department of Physics Technical Services Group

A ball is dropped in front of a meter stick and lit by a strobe light. A long exposure photograph captures the position of the ball at each evenly spaced flash of light. The acceleration of the ball can then be measured from the photo.Note that the frame rate of the video capture (30fps) is quite close to the strobe rate (15fps). This is why the strobe flashes in the slow motion video don't appear to be exactly evenly timed.

A pair of spinning wheels 1.5 meters apart is placed in the path of a bullet. A bullet is fired with the wheels stationary for reference position, and fired again with the wheels spinning at a known speed. The second wheel will rotate more than the first as the bullet crosses the gap between them. When the angles between the reference holes and the second holes are compared, the speed of the bullet can be determined.The balloon is used to show when the bullet has passed through both disks. This video was shot with a high speed video camera at approximately 7000 frames per second. The frame data can be seen at the bottom of the screen.

A video about the vision and purpose of Assured Labor - using cell phones to improve efficiency and transparency for workers in developing countries.

A stuffed monkey is suspended from a rod at one end of a lecture hall by an electromagnet. A golf ball gun aimed directly at the monkey cuts power to the electromagnet when fired. Thus, the monkey begins falling at the same instant the gun fires the golf ball. The projectile and target meet in mid air.Intuitively one might think that the ball will go over the monkey's head due to its fast speed. However, gravity accelerates all objects downward at the same rate, meaning the monkey and the ball will meet at exactly the same point. If the ball was shot even faster, it would still hit the monkey, but higher above the ground. No animals were harmed in this demo.

Two people on carts pull on a long rope, demonstrating that the center of mass does not move.

A wooden ball is attached to the rim of a spinning wheel. The ball is held in place by a string. When the spring is cut, the ball flies in a straight tangent to the wheel.In the camera's frame of reference, the ball constantly accelerates around in a circle due to the centripetal force pulling it inwards. When the string is cut, the acceleration stops, and the ball flies away in a straight tangential line. When the string is cut in the rotating frame of reference, a ficticious force (centrifugal force) accelerates the ball.

A string carrying two weights is hung over a low friction bearing mounted pulley. The weights have slightly different masses, causing a uniform acceleration. When the time it takes the weights to move 1 meter is timed, we can calculate the acceleration of the system due to gravity. Because of the low amount of friction in the system, this value is very close to the theoretical value.Read more about the Atwood Machine.

Jos Acosta of MIT Resource Development is handy with hula hoops.

Witness History. Watch the 2008 MIT 100K Finals.

Watch the entire MIT Freshman Convocation, held on August 24, 2008. Includes speeches by President Susan Hockfield, Chancellor Phillip Clay, and Dean Steve Lerman.

MIT President Susan Hockfield addresses the Class of 2012 at the Freshman Convocation on August 24, 2008. Read the full story.

This video covers the basics of connecting to MITnet from on-campus residence halls, computing resources such as personal backup and VPN software available to students, as well as general information about using MITnet safely and securely while observing the "Rules of Use."

This short video covers the IS&T Help Desk Service Center services such as general computing help, Athena help, hardware repairs, and how we can assist with computing questions and problems.

The maiden voyage of our electric go-kart. Our field controller (the only piece of off-the-shelf electronics on the kart) broke, so it is limited to low gear with no capacitor brake/boost. Next time...http://web.mit.edu/first/kart

Meet the students of the 2008 MIT Summer Research Program.

This time with a guinea pig - I mean - driver. The custom motor controller is limited to to 33% of its maximum power so as not to damage anything.http://web.mit.edu/first/kart

A short clip showing Ricardo working with his cast in Moby-Dick: Then and Now.

Wyn Kelly discussion how her thoughts on Melville's Moby-Dick changed after she worked with Ricardo Pitts-Wiley on the play, Moby-Dick: Then and Now.

An example of remixing as seen in Moby-Dick: Then and Now - sample: Bobby Blue's "Ain't No Love in the Heart of the City."

A video describing the basic plot of the play, Moby-Dick: Then and Now.

Using a bicycle wheel to thresh millet, making LEGO-like bricks from dirt, or hooking up an electric generator to an irrigation pump may not save the world, but such simple projects could go a long way toward improving the lives of millions of people living in the world's developing countries. That's the guiding principle behind a month-long summer workshop at MIT. MoreVideo: MIT News Office/AMPS

Josue Rivera, a young actor in Moby-Dick: Then and Now, gives us a behind the scenes tour of the set.

Henry Jenkins discussing how ProjectNML, and in particular the teachers' strategy guide "Reading in a Participatory Culture," defines the new media literacies.

Henry Jenkins discussing the characteristics of Participatory Culture.

In what some are calling a major breakthrough for renewable energy, MIT chemists Daniel Nocera and Matthew Kanan discover a new catalyst that speeds up the splitting of water into oxygen and hydrogen. The discovery may heighten interest in pollution-free fuel cell vehicles, which generate energy by combining hydrogen and oxygen chemically, emitting only water. The catalyst, made from cheap materials and working in ordinary water, may also make it easier to convert sunlight into chemical fuels, storing solar energy in much the way plants do. From Chemical Explorers, Moreno/Lyons Productions

Clip of Rudy Cabrera describing his thoughts on performance in the theater and in real life.

Wyn Kelley discussing the juxtaposition as seen in Herman Melville's Moby-Dick.

A short video clip discussing the violence seen in the play, "Moby-Dick: Then and Now" directed by Ricardo Pitts-Wiley.

The Sermon as performed (in two parts) in the play Moby-Dick: Then and Now.

Video detailing the reading habits of Rudy Cabrera, Wyn Kelley, Ricardo Pitts-Wiley, and Henry Jenkins.